Evaluation of the Th17 pathway in psoriasis and geographic tongue

Abstract

BackgroundPsoriasis is a skin-articular disease with unclear etiopathogenesis. It has been suggested that the disease is immune-mediated by T-lymphocytes, predominantly Th17 cells. Similar to psoriasis, geographic tongue is an inflammatory disease with participation of Th17 cells and direct correlation with psoriasis.ObjectiveTo investigate and compare the inflammatory responses and the Th17 pathway in psoriasis and geographic tongue.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study with 46 participants that were categorized into three groups: (A) patients with psoriasis vulgaris; (B) patients with geographic tongue and psoriasis; (C) patients with geographic tongue without psoriasis. All patients underwent physical examination, and a skin and oral biopsy for histopathological examination and immunohistochemical analysis with anti-IL6, anti-IL17, and anti-IL23 antibodies.ResultsHistological analysis of all lesions showed mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate. However, moderate intensity was prevalent for the patients with geographic tongue and psoriasis and geographic tongue groups. Immunopositivity for the antibodies anti-IL6, anti-IL17, and anti-IL23 revealed cytoplasmic staining, mainly basal and parabasal, in both psoriasis and geographic tongue. Regarding IL-6, in patients with geographic tongue and psoriasis cases the staining was stronger than in patients with geographic tongue without psoriasis cases. IL-17 evidenced more pronounced and extensive staining when compared to the other analyzed interleukins. IL-23 presented similar immunopositivity for both geographic tongue and psoriasis, demonstrating that the neutrophils recruited into the epithelium were stained.Study limitationThis study was limited by the number of cases.ConclusionThe inflammatory process and immunostaining of IL-6, IL-17, and IL-23 were similar in geographic tongue and psoriasis, suggesting the existence of a type of geographic tongue that represents an oral manifestation of psoriasis.

Oral Manifestations in Patients with COVID-19: A 6-Month Update

“…Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an important biomarker related to the cytokine storm in patients with COVID-19 and subsequent human systems impairment (Gupta et al 2020;Leisman et al 2020). Some oral mucosal lesions in the spectrum of oral changes in COVID-19, such as geographic tongue, might also be associated with elevated levels of IL-6 (Alikhani et al 2014;Picciani et al 2019;Hathway 2021). Although this feature may contribute to the discussion of the "COVID tongue" quoted in emerging media and in a few studies, to date, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis (Hathway 2021;Nuno-Gonzalez et al 2021;Peters and McLean-Holden 2021).…”

Applicability of the Geographic Tongue Area and Severity Index among Healthcare Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Clinical Validation of a Newly Developed Geographic Tongue Scoring System

“…Although the chronic oral condition GT is considered a lesion of unknown aetiology, it is deemed to be closely associated with psoriasis [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Despite usually being asymptomatic, many patients complain of burning or itching, and they can suffer from aesthetic and/or psychological issues.…”

Network Pharmacology-Based Analysis on the Mechanism of Action of Ephedrae Herba-Cinnamomi Ramulus Couplet Medicines in the Treatment for Psoriasis

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